International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) and Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) announced Thursday they're partnering to build what could become the foundation of a quantum computing internet. If that sounds ambitious, well, it is.

What They're Building

The collaboration brings together two distinct but complementary strengths: IBM's practical quantum computing know-how and Cisco's innovations in quantum networking. The goal isn't just to make bigger quantum computers—it's to connect them together into a distributed network that can tackle problems no single machine could handle.

Think of it this way: instead of building one massive quantum computer, they're working on linking multiple large-scale quantum systems so they can work together on the same computation. The companies are aiming to push beyond IBM's current roadmap and solve the thorny technical challenges standing between us and a true quantum computing internet.

The timeline? Early 2030s for full realization, but within five years they plan to show off a proof-of-concept network that links large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers. This demonstration would enable joint computations across tens to hundreds of thousands of qubits—the quantum equivalent of bits in classical computing.

What makes this interesting is the scale of what becomes possible. This network could execute trillions of quantum gates, opening doors to breakthrough applications in large-scale optimization and the design of advanced materials and medicines. Those aren't just buzzwords—they're real-world problems where quantum computing could make a meaningful difference.

What the Executives Are Saying

Jay Gambetta, Director of IBM Research and IBM Fellow, explained the vision: "By working with Cisco to explore how to link multiple quantum computers like these together into a distributed network, we will pursue how to further scale quantum's computational power."

Vijoy Pandey, GM/SVP at Outshift by Cisco, emphasized the complementary nature of the partnership: "IBM is building quantum computers with aggressive roadmaps for scale-up, and we are bringing quantum networking that enables scale-out. Together, we are solving this as a complete system problem, including the hardware to connect quantum computers, the software to run computations across them, and the networking intelligence that makes them work."

The Broader Context

This announcement comes on the heels of IBM revealing a series of quantum computing milestones at its annual Quantum Developer Conference. The company has laid out an ambitious roadmap targeting quantum advantage by 2026 and fault-tolerant quantum computing by 2029.

Following the announcement, IBM shares climbed 1.90% to $294.0, while CSCO shares rose 0.83% to $79.04 in premarket trading on Thursday.